Road tamper



May 19, 1925.

W. R. THOMAS RoA'D TAMPER Filed May 8, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 19, 1925.

W. R. THOMAS ROAD TAMPER l2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ms@ E T@ Filed May 8, 1922 Patented May 19, 1925.

,Unire WILLIAM n, THoMAs, or WATEnToWN, WISCONSIN, Assienon or' ONE-HALF To A -JoHN MURPHY, or WATERTQWN, WISCONSIN.

Roan TAMrER.

Application filed May 8, 1922. Serial-No. 559,352..

` To all who/m. t 'may concern.' changes in the precisev embodiment of the Be itlknown that I, WILLIAM R. THOMAS, herein disclosed invention may be made as a citizen of the United States, and resident come within the scope of the claims.

of Vatertown, inthe county of Jefferson In the accompanying drawing, is illusandv State of Visconsin, .have invented certrated one complete example of the physical 60 tain new` anduseful Improvements in Road embodiment of the present invention con- Tampers; and I do hereby declare that the structed according to the best mode so far following is a full, clear, and exactdescripdevised for the practical application of the tion thereof. v principles thereof, and in which: The invention relates to road tampersA` Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view 65 adapted to be propelled by tractors. It comof the device. prises a frame afiixed to a tractor, and trans- Figure 2 is a plan thereof, parts being mitting power therefrom toa rock shaft shown in section. carrying rocking arms, some disposed for- Figure?) is a cross section on the line 3-3 wardly, others rearwardly, and having of Figure 1. 70 tampers thereon, adapted to contact with Figures 4 and 5 are details of a specific the ground. The rocking arms and tampers modification of tamper, the latter being a counter-balance each other. A grader is cross section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

rovided with means forregulating its Figures 6 and7 are details of a catch, Figheight, the graderbeing carried in front of ure 6 being a cross sectional view on the line 75 the tampers. 6-6 of Figure 7.

'A primary object of the invention is ef- The top frame comprises longitudinal fective tamping action. Power is transmitmembers 10-10, terminating in transverse ted vfrom the tractor, and the counterbal members 11-11. The side frames comprise ancing arrangement of rocking arms on the diagonal supports 12 and 13, which at their 80 rock shaft facilitates araising and lowering forward ends are secured to vertical front of the tampers with a minimum expenditure frame members 14, and at their rear ends of energy, as the movement upward of the are rigid with vertical rear frame end mem.-

'- forward series of tampers is simultaneous bers 15. i l

with the lowering of the rearward series. -Between vertical end frame members 15, .85 -The movement of the rocking arms is such are vertical supports 16 and the end memas to impart a proper tamping'forc'e to the bers'and supports are rigid with transverse tampers. The tampers pivoted bn the roclitop frame member 11 and transverse bote ingarms operate with but ylittle shock to tom frame member 17 at the rear. Side bottheV frame, as the suddenl arrest ofithe tamptom frame members 18 extend from trans- 90 ers does not transmit excessive force to the verse bottom frame member 17 forwardly to rocking arms. front transverse member 19.V Side bottom An additional object is the convenient proframemembers 18 are braced by transverse Y pulsion of the tampers,the tamper frame brace 20, which is rigid with longitudinal' 40 'being secured to the frontrof a tractor and braces 21, extending to front transverse 95 provided with wheels whereby it may be member 19. The bottom frame carriesa plupushed about, offering but the minimum rerality of lugs 22, having openings receivsistance to movement. i ing rod 23, which is secured to a tractor by A still lfurther object of the invention means of suitable propelling elements 24, the istheprovision of devices regulable to de top framebeing proyided with ears 25, by 100 termine'the position of the grader, so that which the structure may be secured to the the surface on which the tampers act is at a tractor thru the medium of'chains 26 at'each proper 'height for eiiicient work. ofthe rear corners.

With the abovev and other objects in view Brace 20 carries supports 27, upwardly which will appearas the description proextending and having bearings 28 thereon 105 ceeds, the invention resides in the novel Aconfor shaft 29, rigid with wheels 30 and gear struction, combination and arrangement of 31, the gear operating to transmit power parts substantially-as hereinafter described thru suitable connection not shown from a and more particularly defined by the `ap tractor to shaft 29, on the'rotation of which f pended claims, it being understood that such reciprocates pi'tman 31 pivoted on wheels 110 K shaft 34, mounted to jthe bifurcations Y posed are 'maintained exerts a depressing action 30 and connected to depending lugs 32, carried by rocking armsy 33, secured to rock rotate on vertical front frame members 14. Rocking' arms 33 are forwardly disposed and are the extremes of a seriesl of forwardly disposed members comprising rocking arms 35, and a lseries of rearwardly disposed rocking arms 36, the arms being secured4 to rock shaft 34 by bolts 37. Each of thegrocking arms is .provided with bifurcations 38, between which a ylever 39 is mounted on pivot 40,

having a lower stop and an upper vstop 42, limiting the rotation of lever 39 in one direction.

Stop 42 is provided with a plurality of grooves 43, in one of which a U-bolt 44 is positioned, secured at its lowermost end to link 45, which supports helical spring 46, which contacts with the arm of lever 39, terminating adjacen rock shaft 34, to each of the levers. f

XA link 47 is provided, the link being pivoted at (its lower end to tamper 48, and aving a band 49 secured theretoby pin 50, whereby leaf springs 51 oppositely disin contactwithl the upper surface of tamper 48. If, in the downward movement ofthe tamper, its lower surface is in a different that of the acts, the pivotal movement of the tamper permits readjustment, so` that the tamper in. the proper direction.` Springs 51 tend to maintain the tamper in proper position in spite of vibration of the frame and other parts to bring the lower surface of 'y so y of spring 46.

the. tamper into a substantially'horizontal plane. The rocking of shaft 34 by pitman 31', moves the forward rocking arms up andv down, the rearward rocking arms'travelin in an opposite direction so that wei ht f the tamping parts counter balance, t us less force' is necessary for the tamping action than would be -called 'for-if all the rocking arms were disposed in the same direction with respect to shaft 34.

When the 'tam er 48 contacts with the ground, the roc 4ing arm on which the tamper is mounted is capable of continued ,downward movementunder the influence of pitman 3l', and spring 46 acting on lever 39, produces a heavy. depression of the tamper. As lever 39 is pivoted to the rocking arm, the shock of impact of tamper 48 with-the ground is not communicated to the frame. U-bolt 44 may be positioned forwardly or rearwardly in grooves 43, vand thus is effective to vary the tension In the modication shown in Figures` 4 and 5, rock shaft 52 carries rocking arm 53, secured by bolt 54 and having a stop 55 adapted to limit the movement of arm the upward 4movement plane from ground on which the tamper 71 movement of l1n slot 75 in the being normally maintained uplifted by leaf spring 58, secured to the rocking'arm. On of the 'rockin-g arm,

finger 59 contacts` with frame piece 60, de-

pressing .,arm 56'bringing it out of contact with the end of lever 61 pivoted von the rocking arm. This permits the dropping of the tamper 48. Thus the tamper is elevated to a proper height and released,

and by its sudden impactl with the ground, Y

produces an effective tamping action.

-Pvoted to vertical front frame members 14, are a series of forwardly extending arms 62, carrying a grader 63, provided with lugs 64, to which is pivoted a series of `rack bars 65, the-teeth of which mesh with gears 66, rigid with shaft 67, which is,y manually rotatable -by means of wheel 68, to determine the position of rack bars 65 and thus regulate the heightl kof grader 63, the shaft 67 being mounted to rotate in supports 69. Thus by wheel 68, the level of the surface on which tampers48 act may', to a certain extent, be determined and the ground is leveled by the grader so thatthe tampers 48 are disposed at a proper height for pounding the material down.

On the adjustment of grader 63 to a proper height, lever 70, rotatable on pivot is moved laterally to shift la traveler 72, I.slidably mounted on shaft 67 and bring catches 73, yextending parallel to the axis of the shaft intoengagement with the teeth of gear 66, movement being transmitted from lever 70 to traveler 72, bymeans of pins 74,`rigid with the traveler and movable ver 70, therefore, rack bars 65 are retained in fixed position.

the frame` are positioned almost immediatelever. By means of the le` As the wheels 76 mounted to rotate at the lower front A'corners of ly below the rocking shaft 34, the forward and rearward tampers 48 are maintained at substantiall'y equal heights above the ground, despite irregularities so that all of the tampers are effective. If desired, a suitable source of power may he carried in the framey and yoperate directly to move the tampers instead of furnishing the power from the tractor.

I claim: i

1. A road tampingmachine adapted to be drawn over a roadway comprising a wheeled frame, a rock shaft extending transversely ofsaid frame, projecting forwardly and rearwardly of said rock shaft and rigidly attached thereto, means for oscillating said rock shaft, each of said levers being, composite and having an outer portionvand an inner portion with the outer portion pivoted intermediate its ends to the i ner portion, a spring carried by said inner portion and opposing rocking motion in one direction of said outer pora `plurality of levers tion, anda. tamper vsuspended from said outer portion.

2. A road tamping machine adapted to lbe drawn over a roadway comprismg a wheeled frame, a rock shaft extending transversely of said frame, a plurality of levers projecting forwardly and rearwardly of said rock' shaft and rigidly attached there to, means for oscillating said rock Shaft, each of sai'd levers .being composite and having an outer portion and an inner portion with the outer portion pivoted intermediate its ends -to the inner portion, a spring carried by said inner portion and opposing rocking motion in one direction of said outer portion,

spended from said outer portion, said tamper having a downwardly extending link and having a foot portion pivoted to said link and resiliently held at approximately right angles thereto.

3. A road tamping machine comprising a wheeled vehicle adapted to bedrawn over a roadway,v a transverse shaft carried by frame,

and a tamper su-` adapted to control said vehicle, means for oscillating said shaft, a 'plurality of levers projecting forwardly and rearwardly in staggered relation from said transverse shaft, anda plurality of tampers carried by levers.

4. The combination of a road tamping ma- IVsconsin.

WILLIAM R. THOMAS.

the outer ends of said chine adapted to be ydrawn over a roadway 

